Snow Red
by eversskye
Summary: There is a type of magic that only the royal family knows, and it is the winter magic Elsa had been practicing all her life. But the King does not allow Anna to partake in any of this, nor is she allowed to command any of the battles with her twin sister. Elsa starts to wonder whether there is a deeper, darker secret waiting for them both. Frozen AU. Warning: Elsanna
1. Chapter 1

_**Snow Red**_

**By Eversskye**

Summary: There is a type of magic that only the royal family knows, and it is the winter magic Elsa had been practicing all her life. But the King does not allow Anna to partake in any of this, nor is she allowed to command any of the battles with her twin sister. Elsa starts to wonder whether there is a deeper, darker secret waiting for them both. Frozen AU with many Disney crossover characters. Elsanna.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot.

_Long, gnarled fingers stroked the newborn's forehead as the leader of the trolls spoke. _

"_A child born during the winter star's alignment with the eclipsed moon is fated to lead, your majesty. Under the princess's reign the country shall prosper more than ever before. However, there is one other child, born on this same night who shares the same destiny. I cannot say who will be triumphant in the end."_

"_Then I will find it," the King declared, "and I will destroy anyone who dares to threaten the rule of my true heir."_

* * *

Word has it that when the Queen gave birth during a royal outing, information was leaked from the midwives that the kingdom was prepare to welcome a princess. Therefore, no one was surprised when the king and queen came back from their visit with the trolls carrying a pink bundle in their arms. What was unexpected, however, was when the imperial officials later that week announced the welcoming of _two_ princesses.

Arendelle was to be blessed with twins: Elsa and Anna.

Naturally, despite the initial confusion, the kingdom rejoiced. A countrywide celebration soon commenced, carrying on for two weeks as the people feasted and waited around the castle for the princesses to be presented. And indeed, less than a month into their return, the queen had carried Princess Anna in her arms, carefully showing the beautiful red-haired baby to the crowd below. Princess Elsa, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Suspicion soon arose with some people doubting the existence of the mysterious princess, while others claimed that Princess Elsa was born with a terrible illness and was not fit to be taken outside. Despite the people's curiosity, the secrets inside the castle's closed doors remained impenetrable. As years passed, eventually the existence of Princess Elsa became a distant memory, while the people focused their love on the amiable Princess Anna, who could often be seen sneaking out of the castle to play with the children on the streets.

Friendly and warm, Princess Anna did not carry in her personality the usual polite detachment that was born into most people of her upbringing. To the common populace, she was not simply the potential next-in-in for the throne. They loved her as they would a part of themselves, for she acted as nothing more than a child from the neighborhood streets. It was hard, really, not to love her mud-smeared cheeks and the easy way she shook hay from her unkempt hair.

As for the other princess of Arendelle, no one outside of the king's ring of secrecy had ever laid eyes on Princess Elsa until the princesses both turned nine. The first person to see Princess Elsa outside of the king's most trusted subjects was none other than Princess Anna herself, though if one was to be entirely accurate, it was actually Princess Elsa who had caught sight of Princess Anna first.

To Elsa and Anna, the moment they met was when their lives truly began…

* * *

**Chapter One:** _**Cursed Child**_

The royal tutors told Elsa that she was cursed.

When she was barely a few days old, a witch from the northern lands had injected liquid fire into her veins. The infant princess would have died; only, the king had brought her to the trolls in time and the result was that Elsa would have to learn how to control the magical poison in her veins for the rest of her life.

Ever since Elsa could remember, she had slept in a cold stone room on a bed made of ice- supposedly to absorb its frosty essence and combat the potion burning through her heart. In Elsa's memories, there was never a day when she did not spend her entire evenings working on her wintery blend of royal magic. Without practice she would die, the teachers said. The princess did not doubt a single word she was told, and indeed, the blazing feeling inside of her would calm down after each session. Her powers in controlling ice grew stronger, even if she herself felt weak after using them.

Up until Elsa turned nine, her world had consisted of nothing more than empty halls and grey stone walls. The only people she knew was her father- the King, a dozen or so servants, and the ten tutors her father had hired to teach her everything that was required to rule the kingdom. Elsa was an obedient child, and Elsa learned faster than most. But how could she truly learn to lead, when she did not even know what a kingdom was, did not know who it was she was supposed to be leading?

To the young princess, there was no other life than the top floor of the castle. She did not want a different life, did not miss the outside world…for how could she miss something that she had never known? There were no other people aside from those hired by her father. There were no seasons, no dates, and no light from the sun. So how was she to understand what the tutors had meant when they wanted her to learn history, when they taught her etiquette that her countrymen would deem fitting for a princess, when they told her to write poems about trees and birds and oceans?

Once Elsa could read, she found her answer through storybooks kept in the palace library. At night when the servants had all left and the candles were blown out, the young princess snuck out of her room. It was within the pages of folklore and fairytales did she learn that there were others, children much like she, who did not spend their days studying and learning magic. Between deep breathes of musty parchment, she learned that children _played games_. That there was not only fathers, but mothers as well as sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles. That the world contained much more people than she had ever imagined…and that what people cared for most was not etiquette or history or ruling.

When Elsa learned to read, she also learned that people _loved_, and it was this _love_ that she began to desperately seek in her father's actions each time he visited to check on her progress. She doubled her efforts in controlling her powers, and absorbed her studies faster than water.

She wanted to ask Father, did she have a mother as well? Did she have a brother, or a sister? Why was she not allowed to leave these lonesome walls? Why were there no other children around?

She wanted to ask, wanted to feel the love that had been so praised within the texts…and yet whenever she looked into the king's eyes she could see nothing less than absolute stoic authority. It was all for her own good, all for her protection, he said. Thus Elsa did not complain.

She did not tell anyone of her midnight ventures either.

Elsa continued to live that way, until one night, a small voice echoed through the walls as the young princess was reading through the second passage of a particularly expansive text. Intrigued by the unfamiliar voice, the young girl placed the book back into place and crept quietly over to peek through the doors of the library. What she saw nearly made her grasp out loud.

There in the halls, was a little girl standing about the same height as she herself. Elsa watched, amazed, as the other girl began to tug against the arms of a beautiful woman, who smiled at her adoringly despite some protest.

"No, Anna, you know that it is way past your bedtime by now. Your father will be angry if he finds the both of us awake."

The red haired girl did not cease her pulling. "But mommy! I can't go to sleep now. They sky's awake, so I'm awake too!"

At this the woman laughed, and let her daughter guide her down one of the halls Elsa had never dared to enter.

Behind the doors of the library, young Elsa stood frozen, her mind racing with different scenarios to accommodate these new findings that could change her world. Unable to handle the shock, after a moment, the princess broke into action. She ran and ran, through the doors and into the familiar corridors until finally reaching her room.

Uncertain and afraid, she did not leave the room the next two nights.

On the third, curiosity had gotten the best of her. She left the room once more, in secrecy. But this time, her destination was not the royal library, but to _find that girl._

Despite her unfamiliarity with the rest of the castle, within thirty minutes she had stumbled upon the strange little girl talking to herself within one of the art rooms. Elsa stood quietly in a dark corner as she watched the object of her fascination converse animatedly with one of the paintings about her day.

That night, and the many nights following, Elsa listened and learned from the girl much more than she could have learned from anywhere else. For example, she found that most people slept on beds made of softer, bouncier material in which Anna enjoyed jumping on. She learned that the small green things stuck in the girl's hair were leaves from trees. She learned that Anna was also a princess, and most likely her sister.

Eventually Elsa found herself not only listening, but observing Anna herself: the freckles on her cheeks, the way her eyes sparkled in the lights, and the awkwardness of her movements. She couldn't help but think of how they were so different, yet so similar. Elsa had never seen anyone her age before. Never met someone who saw the world the way a child would, someone who possessed the innocence that Elsa herself was never allowed.

She watched as if entranced, as on that particular night, Anna was carrying a large bucketful of snow. With haste, the little girl dumped the snow onto the floor and ran off- only to come back with another bucket. She repeated the action a couple of times, until a few of the tiles were partially topped with freshly added snow. Once Anna decided that her work was complete, she started rolling some of the snow into small little balls. While the first one succeeded, much of the snow on the ground had melted as the girl attempted to place the second ball on the first. The result was that the top began to sag as the young princess anxiously tried to hold it in place.

A foreign, bubbly feeling began to emerge from Elsa's lungs as she stood, looking at the increasingly frantic movements of the other girl. As Anna let out an unprincess-like squeak before uttering pleads for the snow to quit melting, a laugh erupted from the silvery blonde-haired observer.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise of what she had just done, while the other girl gasped.

"Who's there?"

Reluctantly, Elsa stepped out from the dark corner and into the red-haired girl's line of view. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment while Elsa's mind raced and Anna contemplated the girl in front of her curiously. All of a sudden, Anna sprung into action, closing the distance between them in a few swift steps and grabbing both of the lighter haired girl's hands within her own.

"Elsa?"

Shocked and never having imagined that the other girl would know who she was, Elsa could only nod her head. At once the other girl squealed, before hugging Elsa tightly in her enthusiasm. The stunned princess could only remain still as she struggled to understand Anna's deluge of incompletely spoken thoughts.

"I knew it! I wished for you to be real for Christmas last year! I mean, I know you're real-real…but everyone says I have a sister somewhere in this castle, yet I never saw you. I've always wanted a sister. Where have you been all this time? Oh! Do you want to play with me? I'm trying to build a snowman. Of course, I've never seen one before, so I'm not sure…dad never lets me outside when it's cold, but I managed to unlock one of the side doors today so I can go out and get some snow!"

Lacking in experience with others of her own age and unsure of how to reply, Elsa took a brief look at the melted snow that her sister had discarded behind them and summoned her powers. With a flick of her fingers, the snow became fresh as new. Satisfied, she motioned to the still rambling girl attached to her.

Anna turned. A happy gleam glowed in her eyes. She moved to clasp her hands together, obviously impressed at her newfound sister's abilities.

"Ohh! Can you make some more?"

Elsa grinned. With a wave of her hands the room was filled with a thin layer of snow. Anna did not hesitate to dive in to touch the snow, throwing some onto her sister and running off.

Thus, the girls began to play.

If they had met at a later age, they would most likely be more wary of the other's identity. Maybe they would have wondered why they were kept apart, and what troubles might soon materialize now that they have met. They might have even opposed each other- as no doubt there is only one who would claim the throne some day.

At such young an age though, all they could feel was how they were drawn to each other, attracted by the differences so easily seen. Red and white. Loud and quiet. Warm and cold.

But the truth was, deep inside they knew they were not too different at all. One was born with innate trust in everyone. The other had never met experienced the world enough to distinguish between truth and lies. In a position above most, they had both lived their childhood amongst adults, never without company yet always alone.

Perhaps they had been waiting all their lives to find each other. With a pinky swear, they promised to always meet again.

A surge of newfound protectiveness overcame Elsa that night. As they both snuck back to bed before any of the palace staff awoke, her last thought was of how cute Anna was, and how it was nice to have someone as her own.

_Her sister. How perfect was that?_

She slept peacefully, unaware of the troubles yet to come.

* * *

End Chapter One.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Snow Red**_

**By Eversskye**

Disclaimer: I already said it in chapter one.

**A/N: **Thank You to everyone who read, followed, and especially to those who left a review. It really gave me inspiration to finish this chapter quicker.

**Chapter Two: **_**Growth and Bonding**_

On occasion the king would grace the top floor of the castle with his presence to inquire on Elsa's condition. The young princess was always ecstatic to see her father, even if he did nothing more than talk to the royal tutors regarding her progress with her winter magic. It was all for her own good, she reasoned. And so, despite being slightly miffed whenever the teachers mentioned that her magic had not grown anywhere near enough to overcome the poison, Elsa looked forward to her father's visits as they were a sign that he truly cared.

If there was anything Elsa did hate, however, it would be the physical checkups she was required to do after each of her father's visits. A teacher observed her behind a thick wall of glass while the young princess stood in a room surrounded by fire, clothed in the thickest clothing the tailors could muster. The poison in her veins boiled to a most uncomfortable level, and her clothes soaked with sweat, but Elsa was not allowed to drink any water to replenish what she had lost.

With the most indifferent of voices, the teacher instructed her to freeze the room and fill it with as much snow as she could.

"Remember," the old man directed, "You are to learn how to overcome the toxic fire running in your veins by tapping into the winter powers deep inside of you. That is the only way you would be able to overcome the witch's curse."

The first hour was not too difficult; Elsa quickly froze the fires surrounding her before any of the snow could melt away. As time passed by, however, more and more torches were thrown into the room before the young princess could even start to freeze them all. Eventually most of her effort was spent in dodging the growing flames, which licked and marked her pale skin with red scorches.

Water was important, she soon realized. With so many torches consistently being thrown in, it would be too difficult for her to bring the room's temperature- as a whole- _low_ enough to quench the entire blaze. It was simpler to use her powers of snow and ice to stop the flames individually. The problem was, neither snow nor ice can be created without enough water vapor in the air.

She understood the futility of her efforts. But the young princess nonetheless continued to freeze as much water vapor in the room as she could, sending them off in short bursts of power to cool the flares burning closest. Still, the flames congregated and grew. Once the inferno enclosed her the teacher's voice echoed through the cackling flames.

"Princess Elsa, you are not permitted to stop! No one will save you but yourself. You are to proceed until the entire room is frozen."

Surely, Elsa thought, her father would not allow them to burn her to death? But the building panic in her stomach and the smoke in her lungs proved otherwise. The young princess despaired as she wrapped her arms around herself to take up as little space as possible.

"No! NO…father!" she cried between coughs.

Relentlessly, her enemy raged on. There was no one in sight, no sound of the large stone doors opening. As she knelt to the ground, Elsa understood then that the teachers could only be so calm if they were given permission from the king to not intervene. The king's orders were precisely what they had informed her- she was to continue freezing the room, or die attempting to do so.

It made to no sense to the young girl, as in all the fairytales she had read, parents would have done anything to save their children. For the first time in her life, a seed of doubt was planted deep within Elsa's heart, that maybe…just maybe, it did not matter to the king of she had died after all.

Pain overtook her. A horribly cold yet profound feeling spread from her heart, into her limbs, and throughout her body. She screamed, eyes unseeing, and knew no more.

* * *

When Elsa came to, she was within the arms of none other than the king himself. The proud sovereign nodded as he noticed her open her eyes.

"Well done, my child. We had always known that with the right push, you would be able to do it. You will be able to control the winter soon enough, and the fire in your veins as well."

He reached to touch her forehead, but stopped as the princess shied away. Quietly, Elsa shakily sat up and looked around the now-frozen room. Tiredness crept in her bones, and her muscles were sore beyond measure. Barely registering what her father had said, and no longer caring much for it at this point, the young princess took in a deep breath.

"I would like to retire to bed. For the day off. To sleep, for now."

It was not a question, yet too gentle to be a request. Still, the king complied and a servant was motioned over to carry the princess to her quarters. Elsa remained motionless upon her bed for what seemed like hours, and eventually the servants retreated for the night. Exhausted as she was, however, the princess could not bring herself to sleep. Later that night the nine year old snuck out of her room once more, headed to the room where she knew Anna was probably no longer waiting.

Tacitly she turned the doorknob and entered, only to be immediately tackled to the ground. Disbelief raced through her for the second time that day.

"A-Anna?"

Arms still wrapped around her sister, Princess Anna giggled and buried her face within the other girl's shoulders. Her reply was muffled yet joyous.

"You were so late, and I was worried. But I knew you'd come! I knew so I waited."

Smiling broadly, the strawberry blonde lifted a messy head from her sister to take a better look at the girl. What she saw made her pull away immediately, distress evident within her greenish-blue eyes.

"Elsa?" she whispered. "What happened to you?"

Elsa did not know how to reply, and she remained silent as her twin sister shuffled to pull her up and sit beside her. With utmost care, Anna moved to examine the wounds on her sibling's face and arms. Elsa remained immobile throughout, too tired to even question the other girl as Anna rushed out of the room and ran back in with a pouch in her hands. She pulled some sort of ointment from it, as well as a few strips of cloth, and proceeded to gently apply the milky salve onto the princess's burns.

The application stung, and Elsa bit her lips as her sister hissed softly in sympathy.

"Don't worry, Elsa. They'll heal up real fast. I get injured all the time from running around the castle, and this is what I always use."

The sotto sound of little the girl's voice was like a warm embrace, and Elsa was surprised to find that her wounds did not hurt nearly as much anymore. Yet a peculiar feeling knotted in her heart, and Elsa took in a deep breath, overwhelmed.

A sob rose in her throat, and she watched through teary eyes as Anna flustered around, misunderstanding the reason why the silver blonde was crying. Unable to think of anything, Anna pulled her sister into a hug.

"It'll be okay, Elsa. Shh. You'll be okay. Don't cry. It won't hurt anymore."

Elsa had never experienced such kindness before. All of her life, she had spent doing everything she could for her father to notice her. And yet this girl, this wonderfully warm girl before her had offered love without asking for anything at all.

How ironic it was. How unfair. How cruel. Elsa's body shook while she wept harder within the other girl's arms.

"It's okay if you want to cry then. I'm here, Elsa. Always."

Voice thick with emotion, and sounding as though she was about to tear up herself, Anna hugged her sister as tight as she could.

The two girls held each other long into the night. It was at that point that Elsa swore to herself that from then on, Anna would be most important in her heart.

* * *

Every night they secretly met and grew closer.

Nearly half a year had passed by from the first time the sisters had discovered each other. As her initial shyness decreased, so too did Elsa's heart open and warm up to the other. Yet Anna grew to understand that Elsa was not inherently talkative. The more serious girl thrived in comfortable silences, and would not be bothered to speak much even as they dashed and played and built snowmen throughout the night.

Thus it was left to Anna to fill up those silent moments with her own chatty rambling. It was through these seemingly one-sided conversations that one night Anna discovered that Elsa had never met their mother.

"C'mon, Elsa. I know that daddy is strict. But there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to see our mom!"

The pale princess did not even pause to think before she shook her head in silent disagreement. Anna groaned.

"What's the worst that can happen? She probably misses you. Mom isn't like Dad. She's nice! I mean…not that Daddy's mean, but sometimes he's too stern to be nice-nice…"

She drifted off, as Elsa placed one hand on each of her shoulders. The look in Elsa's clear blue eyes was sad as they bore into her own, as though asking her why the queen had not sought for her other daughter all these years. Why did the queen never ask for her, never care for her the way she did for Anna?

There were things that could not be forced, wounds that could not be healed without truly understanding the source behind it. No matter how much Anna wanted for Elsa and her mother to meet and for the entire family to be together one day, she knew that they would not be truly happy if they did not choose meet out of their own will. Eventually she dropped the topic. Yet it remained in the back of her mind until one day the queen suddenly became very ill, and Anna knew she had to bring it up again before it was too late.

That evening as her father spoke to the royal healers, the young princess knelt by her mother's bed and tearfully told the queen about Elsa and their nightly outings. She told the queen of their first encounter and the subsequent ones, of how they spent their time together, and how her sister had always been lacking in motherly love. Certainly, she thought, at this crucial moment, her mother would want to see how her other daughter is doing all this time?

Perhaps such a happy occasion as reuniting with Elsa would cheer up the queen, might heal her and give her a complete recovery.

What she did not expect was that her mother did not ask for her to bring sister. Instead, the queen shakily grasped her hands and beckoned her forward. Then, in a whisper, the ailing woman spoke her last words into her daughter's ears.

"I do not wish for you to be like your father. Live happy. Grow strong, Anna, and protect what means most to you. Save Elsa. Only true love can thaw the frozen heart."

That night the queen departed. Anna did not really understand the message in its entirety, but as she cried and cried within her sister's arms for the next week or so, her mother's dying words continued to echo in her mind. There was something very wrong with the workings in the castle. Something that her mom did not wish to say.

But as time passed by, Anna's trust in life and innate optimism pushed every suspicion away. All that remained etched in her heart was the thought that should anything happen she would protect Elsa, because now…they only had each other.

* * *

End Chapter Two.

**A/N:** It's shorter than I'm used to, but I felt that ending it here was necessary for the plot to move on next. I'd planned for them to grow up sooner as most of the story does involve and older Anna/Elsa, but I'm afraid that this back story of their childhood does have to continue for another chapter in order for the true events of the story to play out.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Snow Red**_

**By Eversskye**

**A/N: ** I received three troll/flame/unconstructive reviews after my last update from Bowser/Charizard/Firebird. All of which are from what I believe is the same person. I was initially not sure if that person reviewed my story by mistake or not, but seeing as how they had written three on mine, as well as the same on many other Elsanna fictions that I've been following, I can probably safely say that they truly were harmfully intended.

Whoever it was, had claimed that my story (as well as many others) were junk and that writing this bad was not acceptable. The same type of the review had been submitted to many others as well. It seems that the reviews were **intended to discourage writers** from continuing their endeavors in writing Elsanna. This is actually the first time I have ever received negative criticism. Personally I feel very amused by it, but if there are any authors out there who were saddened by these guest reviews, **please do not be. It seems that the person has written the exact same thing over and over again in numerous stories. **

To that reviewer, if you are reading this…As a personal reply, I agree that my story (this story) is not one of my best. It is actually one of my worst, considering how I have just been freed from a three year hospital stay and I haven't been writing fanfiction for those three years. My skills are rusty; which is why I chose to make a new account and write for practice rather than continue posting on my old one, which has admittedly better stories that I am proud to call my own.

Whoever you are though, you did not comment on how boring my story has been so far. You did not comment on my lack of organization or inability to smoothly transition from one scene to the next. You did not comment on any of the small grammar errors I might have had for being too lazy to reread and check everything. You did not do anything I had hoped a good critic could do, which would be to point out my weaknesses and help me improve on them as a writer. All of which, I had hoped someone would do. I am amused, but I am also greatly disappointed by your lack of proper ability to disparage my rusty writing skills as well as your lack of ability to think of different comments instead of reusing the same old ones to discourage so many stories out there.

Instead, using a few sentences that had many more grammar errors and typos than my three chapters combined, you simply claimed that my writing is so bad it is unacceptable. With much confusion, I feel obligated to reply. I hope you are reading this. Sir or Madam: whoever you are, if your three reviews were simply made in malicious intent, thank you for increasing my review count. If you choose to continue to do so, I will simply ignore it next time and let it increase my review count further. You see, my greatest personality flaw is that I am extremely confident. It is easy to be like this, as I have lived all my life within the sheltered confines of a high school and college that had given me all A's. I have a great career ahead of me, _and_ I am living off from the high of a possible new chance at life. I have a great best friend who gives me inspiration while humbling me enough to realize that I still have much to learn and am nowhere near perfect. I simply feel overwhelmingly positive, and hurtful words don't touch me. If this was meant to attack the Elsanna or even the Frozen fandom in general, then I have to say that all of us writers have shown to have much better morals than you do, since all we do is promote love in whichever forms they might exist in while you waste your life away promoting hatred.

If you truly meant to criticize my story, then I wish you better luck next time. I do truly wish to someday meet someone here who would take the time to criticize my story though. Point to me what I stumbled on. Encourage me on what they enjoyed. There is still so much room for improvement. As I have said before- I do admit this story being my worst. I plan and hope to make it better.

**As for everyone else:** Once again,Thank You to everyone who read, followed, and especially to those who left a review. You will never know how much it all means to me. Notice that I did just write a full page reply for three negative reviews. Positive reviews and good criticism mean much more. Just imagine how much internal gushing and reply I had for each of your wonderful comments. The only reason why I did not do so…is that I ramble even more than Anna does when I'm gushing. No one would want to read something so boring here when they're here to read the actual story, yes?

**Disclaimer:** Neither Frozen nor Mulan belong to me.

**Warning:** Scenes of animal cruelty ahead. It is necessary for the plot development, but please don't continue reading if you don't wish to see it.

**Chapter Three: **_**Death of Childhood**_

The days after the queen's death, the king of Arendelle became increasingly prone to violence. While Princess Anna was seemingly ignored altogether, much of the king's aggression was vented out onto Princess Elsa- with basis that the king wanted Arendelle to expand and Elsa was to grow up quickly to command army with her powers.

It was hard to say which princess suffered the most from their father's actions, as one princess received no attention from the king yet the other received too much of it. What could be said, however, was that it was only in due time before things started to fall apart.

* * *

_KKssshhh!_

Elsa quickly jumped back as the sword in her hand shatters, sending pointed shards of ice in every direction. Her opponent grinned menacingly as he thrust his own steel blade forward, managing to cut into the princess's left shoulder.

Biting back a scream, Elsa materialized a shield in her left hand. She wasted no time in slamming the icy contraption onto the man's weapon, blocking the sword from its continued onslaught while also attempting to surprise the swordmaster into giving her an opening to attack.

Contrary to her expectations, however, the black haired man merely took one step back before raising the broadsword with his right hand and slicing downwards. While the shield did manage to protect her from another jab of the sword, the difference between their strength was just too great; no matter how hard she pushed, the man would simply hold tightly onto his weapon and continue swinging.

Nothing could faze him. It would only be a matter of time before her shield broke as well.

Elsa's mind raced. The only advantage she had was that her weapons could be continually generated, while he only had his sword. If only there was a way to disarm him. Muscle power was out of the question. Agility would not help in this case, since his reach was further. His arms could move to block whatever she attempted.

As her mind continued to run through the different courses of action, the man roared and swung his sword towards her once again.

_That's it!_

At once the shield disappeared, only to be replaced by a pair of large gleaming scissors. She willed most of her power into the weapon, making it as sharp and strong as ice could possibly be, before raising it towards the sword aimed at her and quickly cutting before her opponent could react.

The blade fell down with a clang and Elsa visibly relaxed, allowing the scissors to disappear in her belief that victory had been won.

"Teacher-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the man extended one wide hand and grabbed onto her hair. He yanked her upwards, before throwing her against the wall behind him.

She slumped against the wall, breathing heavily as she rose her head to look angrily into his eyes.

The swordsman simply laughed, hand reaching out once more to encircle her throat.

"Your skills are not bad. But I, Shan Yu, will not accept a student with such weakness in spirit."

The princess's vision clouded as she struggled to breathe, feet kicking uselessly while the man's fingers tightened around her neck. He raised his other hand into a fist, pausing momentarily to continue his speech.

"Your father hired me to reach you ruthlessness in battle. You are not to stop until your enemy is down. Until your enemy is dead. Remember that."

The huge fist rammed into the side of her head, and Elsa collapsed.

* * *

This time when Elsa woke up, she found herself in her room, with a small dagger on the floor and what she recognized from her studies was a chameleon crawling not too far from her feet. Shan Yu's gruff voice soon echoed from behind the door.

"You will not be allowed to leave this room until you kill it."

As she tried to ignore the throbbing of her head, Elsa's eyes narrowed as she gathered herself up. She sat with her knees bent, arms circled around her legs protectively as light azure pupils focused on the animal in front of her.

Nonetheless, she did not move from place.

"Kill it now, as you would an enemy. You should be grateful that I did not make your first kill be that of a human."

At this, Elsa turned to stare at the door before moving to pick up the reptile. It was surprisingly docile, allowing her to hold it against her chest as she rubbed its head gently. The princess smiled at the chameleon before sending a stubborn glare towards the door. Again, Shan Yu's voice traveled from behind the locked door.

"I will repeat it only once more: Kill the animal. You will not be allowed food nor water until you do so. Either you kill it, or you will die. After you die, I will go in there and kill it anyway."

Without bothering to speak, the young princess sent a blast of her power towards the door, partially sealing it in ice. Her reply was obvious: she would refuse to cooperate. She would not try to come out, nor would she let anyone else in.

Elsa remained in her room for three days, spending most of her time alongside her new friend. She ignored the hunger she was feeling. Instead, she distracted herself in trying to think of different ways to contact Anna. By the end of the first day, she had managed an attempt at reaching Anna by picturing in her mind the hallways to the art room. From there, she attempted to gather all the cold air that she could, sending it through the walls and through the castle's halls.

She imagined Anna sitting in the room, being embraced by her gentle breeze. On the second day, she conjured up the thought of making it snow in the art room. On the third, she mentally created a snow man surprising Anna as the girl entered the art room. So invested was she in this fantasy, that she could almost hear Anna's joyful squeal and almost feel the other girl's warmth as she rushed over to hug the snowman.

By the fourth day, however, the lack of food began to take its toll on her body. Her powers began to manifest itself without her control, as a thin layer of frost had coated the floor. With shaking hands the pale princess picked up the chameleon once more and placed it upon a stone table. She closed her eyes in deep concentration, managing to unfreeze a tiny bit of the frost and will it towards the table as tiny droplets of water for the animal to drink.

Then, she proceeded to stumble onto her ice bed and lay shivering in fetal position. Yet no matter how much she tried, the ice around her would not stop growing. The room became colder, and eventually frozen. That evening Shan Yu once again appeared behind the door.

"Looks like you didn't need to use that knife to kill after all. You were born a weapon. A natural killer."

Despite her uncontrollable state, Elsa struggled to rise as the swordsman laughingly continued.

"Don't you know that reptiles are cold blooded? They cannot handle the temperature. You killed it, with your own powers."

_No._

Her eyes widened as she rushed to the table where the chameleon lay still.

_No._

It was not supposed to end this way, she thought. She was most certainly not meant to be a killer. _But the chameleon had died from her powers just the same_, a voice whispered in her heart.

_She was a monster._

A distressed whimper slipped out of her then, and for the first time in her life Elsa was afraid of her own powers, of herself. No matter what she did, she would not win, because she was what they had wanted her to be all along.

With a loud crash, the men outside had broken through the sealed door. As the servants brought the food in and Shan Yu departed, Elsa did not pay them any heed. Trembling, she headed towards her bed and lay down, closing her eyes.

That night she broke into a high fever.

* * *

Anna began to worry from the very initial night which Elsa had not appeared in their usual meeting spot. However, at first believing her sister to be preoccupied, the little princess had patiently passed her time by initiating a conversation with one of the pictures on the wall. As though understanding her loneliness, a soft breeze had enveloped her as she reluctantly headed towards her room before sunrise. While curious as to where the breeze could have blown in from, she took comfort in it as it reminded her of Elsa.

On the second night she detected Elsa's presence immediately, because the room had started to snow a few hours into her waiting. She spent most of her time watching the quiet snow while trying to persuade to herself that Elsa would come back the night after.

Still, there was no Elsa in sight on the third night as well. The immobile snowman welcoming her at the door had managed to reassure the young princess that her sister had not forgotten her. Yet as she held it in her embrace, the figure did nothing to sooth her increasing concern that something had gone entirely wrong; Elsa could not physically reach her somehow.

Unable to handle the apprehension, she decided to start investigating. Despite the massive size of the castle, Anna managed to find the way to Elsa's room using a mix of her sister's previous descriptions of the place as well as the odd carefulness of the servants in passing through that particular vicinity.

Once she was sure that it was the room she was looking for, she snuck behind a suit of armor and stood in waiting for the guards to retire for the night. It was in this matter that Anna had managed to enter her sister's room unnoticed.

The room was cold and bare; Anna spotted her sister immediately. She hastily ran forward, grabbing hold of the other girl's hands and leaning on the bed made of ice as she cried out.

"Elsa! It's me, Anna. Wake up! What's wrong, Elsa?!"

Yet no matter how much she called, Elsa would not wake up. Her skin, while colder than Anna had ever felt them to be, was damp with sweat. Pale hands shook within her own as Anna clutched on to them, and Elsa's face had the most painful expression her sister had ever seen. Still holding onto her sister, Anna gingerly climbed onto the bed while whispering soothing words to the girl, regardless of whether she could hear it or not.

She held onto Elsa for a long time, eventually falling asleep with the other girl still within her arms. Anna thus did not notice when her hands had begun to glow in a strange, fiery light. As if reacting to this unconscious magic, the coldness from Elsa's body seeped out to the room leaving tendrils of frost in its wake.

Hot and cold. Red and blue. The two forces clashed, until finally they seemed to dissolve into each other and then disappear entirely, taking Elsa's fever along with them.

* * *

End chapter three.

**A/N: **Elsa and Anna grow up in the next chapter and other Disney princesses/characters are introduced.


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